Casinos: Betting On Trouble

Folks, you`ve got trouble. Right here in River City. With a capital ``T`` and that rhymes with ``C`` and that stands for Casino.

As in The Music Man, a lot of Professor Harold Hills are out trying to sell Florida a bill of goods. And, according to one recent poll, the music men are winning converts.

Casino gambling was opposed by only a slight margin statewide in a Florida Newspaper Poll in November and was favored overwhelmingly in a seven-county area from Dade County up to Indian River County.

Let`s get the moral issue out of the way first. Certainly anyone has a right to oppose casinos on that basis. But don`t claim we would be opening the door to the evils of gambling. The door has already been blown wide open. Gambling is gambling, whether it is on bingo, horses, dogs, jai alai or craps. You can`t be selective in your morality.

But, neither does that mean all forms of gambling are the same or have the same impact on the economy. Casino gambling is not the same as horse racing, and racing isn`t the same as a lottery.

Horse racing is probably the most acceptable form of gambling because it is viewed by some people as a ``sport.`` The ``sport of kings.`` Look at the amount of coverage in your local sports pages, or consider the national prominence of the Kentucky Derby and race for the Triple Crown.

Of course, it isn`t a sport. It`s pari-mutuel wagering. If you eliminate the betting, how many sportsmen would show up to watch those magnificent animals racing for the entertainment and sport of it? You couldn`t draw a crowd as large as slow-pitch softball game.

As for a lottery, have one if you must, but realize what you are doing. It is wrong in principle.

English writer and wit Samuel Johnson described it best. He said a lottery is ``a tax on fools.`` Everyone who buys a lottery ticket isn`t necessarily stupid. But a lottery for tax revenues is basically a system to take advantage of a class that is undereducated. You offer a false hope, a dream against tremendous odds, in order to take money from people who can afford it least.

Casino gambling has a stigma all its own: crime and corruption. The question of organized crime aside, casinos attract fringe-area crooks, the quick-buck types, con artists, purse and pocket thieves, dope dealers and purveyors of pleasures of the flesh.

Proponents cite estimates of tax dollars and jobs to be created, but there can be no estimates of jobs and revenues lost from businesses that choose to locate elsewhere because of casino gambling. Social and crime control costs must also be taken into account.

Proponents also like to tie some of the proceeds to commendable purposes, such as education or care for the elderly. The siren song of the music man. Gambling for a good cause is a desperation move. Florida isn`t desperate.

Perhaps most important, gambling says something about our society and to young people: The way out is to win the lottery or place your future on the turn of a card, rather than in your education, hard work, saving and investing.

The proposal that will appear on the ballot Nov. 4 is the worst one that could have been designed. It would allow local-option elections by counties for casinos in hotels with 500 or more rooms.

You might be able to make an argument for a limited number of casinos confined to Miami Beach or just to cruise ships in port. Or for a European- style, Monte Carlo-like casino, with no restaurant or hotel attached, in Palm Beach.

But, for businesses and for sun-sand-and-surf family tourism, casino gambling is shooting yourself in the foot. For Orlando`s Disney World area, which has more hotels that would qualify than any other section of the state, it is shooting yourself in the head.